But now, instead of the urge to run away from that like I had when I was still a boy, a conflicting sense to protect her from it rose in me now as a man. I squeezed her tight, not sure when I would see her again.
Not wanting to let her go, my voice most definitely shook as I added, “And I love you too, alright?”
Tears shone in her eyes as she pulled back, but something else appeared that wasn’t there when she came in. Something I feltguilty for giving her without the knowledge that I could follow through.
Hope was a powerful thing, and the way she was looking at me was dripping with it.Damn, I found myself caving to that look.
I needed to get her out now before she had my bags packed and me agreeing to move back into my childhood bedroom.
“You drove?” I asked her. She nodded. “Alright. Out of here. I’ll text you okay?”
Wow, way to stay strong, Aug.
“Okay,” she said. “Bye…for now, then.”
“Bye for now, Mom,” I agreed.
So much for coming out of this one unscathed.
Chapter Thirty
ALTA
“Woah!” I breathed, wrenching quickly out of the way. “Excuse me, I’m so sorry.”
The woman only nodded, the back of her hand pressed firmly to her mouth as she rushed out of the doors of the tattoo shop. Was she crying?
Well, that was weird.
She seemed older, and not to discriminate or anything, but something about her said that she wasn’t the type to be in here for an actual tattoo.
Stepping into the shop only corroborated the sentiment that something was up. There was a weird air about the room. From the way the boys stared down at their work with moreunmarked attention than I’d ever seen from them and the way the girls shared wary looks between each other, it was obvious.
Looking around the room with newfound wariness, my eyes snagged on a figure in the hallway. Tall and beautiful and… mad.
The frustration that rolled off of Harper as he looked after something at the front door was palpable. The tortured look in his eye transforming my happy wave into something hesitant and then nonexistent as I quickly tucked my hand back down to my side.
He wasn’t focused on me. He wasn’t focused on anything but the door for a long time. And once those sharp eyes came back to the room, they landed on mine.
His frown deepened, his expression going… helpless? His shoulders turned quickly, and the door to his office slammed before I could even react.
Confused, I looked around the room for help, but apparently no one was willing to speak up about what just happened. They all were pointedly looking away from me. It took all the willpower I had to gently set my stuff down behind the counter, rather than just dropping everything in the middle of the floor.
I was at his office door in a second.
I lifted my hand to knock but just turned the knob instead. If it was locked, he clearly wanted to be alone. If it wasn’t, then he wouldn’t be.
The knob turned right away.
“Harper, it’s me,” I said as I slowly pushed the door open. “Alta.”
He said nothing as I pushed the rest of the way inside. But he let me, and when I found him, just on the other side of the door, he was slumped into his desk chair with a hand covering his eyes.
I went to him.
More like my feet catapulted me to him, no questions or prefaces needed. He didn’t look okay, and something about that broke the timidness inside me.
“Hey, Harp?” I eased out. He didn’t move, so I crouched before him in search of his eyes, pulling gently on the hand that covered them. I was rewarded only seconds later with a familiar brown gaze leaning on mine for support. But it wasn’t the same. Something was so wrong it instantly turned a flip in my gut. I didn’t let my worry show on my face though, instead forcing an empathetic smile. “How ya doing?”
